The present invention generally relates to a telephone communication system, and in particular, to an in-home (or a small office) telephone communication system utilizing the capabilities in existing telephone equipment and existing phone wiring with the addition of a control computer.
Increasingly, many homes may have one or more telephone wires and a modern PC with advanced features. With increasing performance needs and expectations on home telephone system, more and more consumers are demanding that the home telephone system have more intelligence and processing capabilities at an affordable price. Thus, applicant has realized there is a large market potential to use modern PC's processing power to provide home telephone system with advanced home telephony features, including:
(1) caller ID announcement based on caller ID record, PA1 (2) voice activated auto-dial, PA1 (3) PC resident message center access from any PCIP equipped phone, PA1 (4) routing of incoming calls to specific phones in the home, PA1 (5) in-house intercom with no additional wiring of the home, PA1 (6) screening of incoming messages from any PCIP equipped phone, PA1 (7) home convenience package including list maker and scheduler, and PA1 (8) speech recognition by using the PCIP system. PA1 (1) that has a low cost, PA1 (2) that is flexible to form a specific telephone system for a household, PA1 (3) that is adaptable to existing telecommunication technology, PA1 (4) that is adaptable to consumer's existing telephone equipment and house wiring, PA1 (5) that is simple to install, and PA1 (6) that does not interfere with regular operation of existing home telephone system. PA1 a wireless communication channel to provide an information path between the communication device and the controller; and PA1 a wireless control channel to provide a control path between the communication device and the controller. PA1 a wireless communication channel to provide an information path between the first communication device and the second communication device; and PA1 a wireless control channel to provide a control path between the first communication device and second communication device.
Applicant has also realized that the feasibility to achieve such market potential greatly relies on an effective design of an integrated computer-telephone system:
Applicant has further realized that the performance of the integrated computer-telephone system greatly depends on a design that can effectively link a control computer (typically a personal computer) with a plurality of telephone sets that are connected to a telephone line (or a communication channel), and that can effectively link any two of the telephone sets.
This application specifically relates to a wireless link that provides an audio channel and a control channel between the control computer and the telephone sets. The other features of the present invention are described in U.S. application Ser. Nos. 08/766,120, 08/766,121, 08/766,122, 08/766,123, 08/767,043, 08/767,044, and 08/767,046, which are incorporated into this application by reference.
Therefore, there is a need to provide a method and apparatus for linking a computer with a plurality of telephone sets that are connected a telephone line (or a communication channel), and for linking any two of the telephone sets, with the advanced features and advantages above mentioned.
The present invention meets this need.